scab picking-advice needed

[xXx_freedom_fails_xXx]

i have been noticing alot more recently that my boyfriend picks his scabs alot and i asked him why he did it and he said "i like the pain it makes me feel better" upon hearing this i started researching it and its a form of self harm i told him and he doesnt seem to fussed about it but i am concerned and want to help and i need to know what i can do he does it alot at the moment because there is alot of stuff going on at the moment and he is quite down i feel disappointed that i never noticed it before but i never knew to look for signs so there you go! any help would be loved

[arewethereyet]

I would like some advice too as I have active scabs on my scalp, face, and neck that don't have a chance to heal because I have the compulsion to pick them. The ones on my head bleed a lot and ache and cause me to get headaches. Then when I get the headache I get mad at myself for picking because if I could just control my urges I wouldn't get the headache!!!

[xXx_freedom_fails_xXx]

http://www.skinpick.com/picking-scabs

I know its called:Dermatillomania

[Intaytia]

This is something I've been doing as long as I remember, it's subconscious now. I'd advise your boyfriend to do something about it now before it becomes an addiction.

There are many people on YouTube who talk about it, including this one (me):
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SyyQDOBXpCo"]Personification of my problems and Dermatillomania - YouTube[/ame]

[arewethereyet]

Tallulah, It is subconscious for me as well and I have been doing it forever too. Also I can not remember a time when my mother did not do it as well. She is 71 years old and she still does it, she had to have 3 or 4 skin cancers removed because the bald spots were exposed to the sun for so long.

[Intaytia]

Quote:

Originally Posted by arewethereyet

Tallulah, It is subconscious for me as well and I have been doing it forever too. Also I can not remember a time when my mother did not do it as well. She is 71 years old and she still does it, she had to have 3 or 4 skin cancers removed because the bald spots were exposed to the sun for so long.

Wow, I'm speechless.
Do you think it's something you learnt to do from your mum then?
I really can't pin-point a time or a trigger for mine.
It might simply have been because I was a shy, quiet child.
And from 11-14 I was bullied.
I never connected the two, but maybe that's it.

[arewethereyet]

I actually noticed it in myself or rather she noticed it in me before I noticed it in her. She would get on my case about it when she would see me doing it and I was supposed to tell her the same. We both also have the nervous leg shake constantly and nastagnus. She also picks her nose a lot which I will admit, I do excessively, and with cotton swabs i put vaseline in otherwise i pick more and my nose hurts more. And when I say I put vaseline in, I mean, not in my nares, but inside on my septum, which has exposed cartilage. I started cutting when I was 14 and as far as I know my mother didn't do that.

[Intaytia]

I too went through a stage of picking my nose, but have recently stopped now thank goodness. The vaseline is a good idea. I started cutting when I was 15 and it hasn't had a positive effect on my dermatillomania. I'm possibly doing it more now, I don't know, can't remember how bad it was before!

I'm currently in France until September and I keep getting mosquito bites - so hard to leave them alone!

[hirple.]

I'm sorry I haven't got anything really useful to add but this is a link to the dermatillomania thread here on RYL. The first post is a collation of all of the helpful tips throughout the thread that were posted - I hope that some of them might be useful. And do feel free to post, I know it's not massively active but bumping it can't hurt :)

[xXx_freedom_fails_xXx]

thank you all so much this information is so useful to me and im going to get my boyfriend to read up on this and get some help thank you x